At the start of a second special legislative session, legislators have yet to produce a consensus budget. While there has been some progress made on a policy framework to address the McCleary decision, it’s likely that a final consensus budget won’t be released until June 30 following the next state revenue forecast.
Said Superintendent Steve Webb, “Once we have a consensus budget, we’ll be able to pivot fairly quickly and present a final set of budget recommendations for the Board’s consideration. Given the hold harmless provision of the temporary extension of the levy funding cliff for next year, we’ve been able to deploy staffing to schools so principals can begin to build their master schedules.”
Chief Fiscal Officer Brett Blechschmidt presented a preliminary budget for 2017-18 based on assumptions about the state consensus budget. Those assumptions include K-3 class-size funding; compensation for staffing; materials, supplies and operating costs; local levy funding; and a slight decrease in enrollment. Given these assumptions, the preliminary budget estimates $8,735,000 in additional revenue and $8,625,000 in additional expenses, with a balance of $110,000.